An examination of fifth grade instrumental music programs and their relationships with music and academic achievement

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Abstract

With ever-increasing demands on the elementary school curriculum, and consequent endeavors to remove all but the basic necessities from the curriculum, there arises an urgent need for objective data related to the effect music education has on both music and academic achievement. This study was designed to examine the effects of selected factors of students who participate in elementary instrumental music programs on their music and academic achievement. A comparison was conducted between students in the fifth grade who participated in instrumental music education programs and students who do not participate in instrumental music education programs on scores of Music Achievement Test Level I (1969) and of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (1989). This study evaluated the extent that participation in these programs had on both music achievement and academic achievement.After three years of data collection, analysis of data from 389 students in nine schools across these school districts, the data indicates that participation in instrumental music had no effect on academic achievement as measured by scores of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills. The data indicate that those students with higher academic achievement scores in fourth grade are those students that elect to participate in instrumental music. The data further indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between instrumental music instruction and music achievement as measured by scores of Colwell's Music Achievement Test, Level 1. For demographic variables (gender, piano proficiency, other musical instruments, outside of school participation in music, parental education level, and parental involvement in music), there was no statistically significant relationship with participation in instrumental music instruction.